Anila Quayyum Agha is internationally celebrated for her immersive large-scale installations, which play with light and shadow to evoke profound experiences of shared space and contemplation. But beyond these large-scale installations, Agha also works extensively on paper through drawings and paintings that explore her concepts on a more intimate scale. By examining her paper-based works, we can see how her themes of light, shadow, pattern, and cultural identity resonate with nuanced depth in this medium. Agha’s installations have been exhibited widely internationally in museums, galleries, and art fairs, and she’s received multiple accolades, including the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s Painters and Sculptors Grant and the Smithsonian Artist Fellowship.
But while these honors underscore her artistic achievements, her drawings, and paintings on paper provide a uniquely personal lens into her larger themes. In her paper works, Agha uses pen, ink, and paint to explore themes of boundary, inclusion, and dialogue between cultures, genders, and belief systems. Her geometric patterns often draw inspiration from Islamic motifs, reinterpreting familiar designs in ways that reflect the symmetry and balance inherent in both natural forms and cosmic structures. On paper, these patterns become intimate, meditative landscapes where light and shadow create the illusion of depth, inviting viewers to confront the complex relationships between interconnected yet distinct cultural symbols.
Agha’s art challenges the binaries between light and dark, masculine and feminine, and public and private.
She acknowledges these dualities, yet her work ultimately transcends them, seeking a harmony that does not ignore shadows and ambiguities but embraces them as vital elements. This is particularly evident in her paper-based art, where the play of contrast creates dynamic tension, asking viewers to pause, reflect, and immerse themselves in a space that feels simultaneously expansive and confined.
The motifs in Aghas’s paperwork reference Islamic art traditions, taking recognizable forms and re-contextualizing them.
Through her intricate geometric patterns, the artist raises questions about cultural identity and belonging. In each piece, Agha’s use of symmetry and repetition hints at the underlying order of the universe, revealing a shared humanity that transcends specific traditions or backgrounds. Her reinterpretation of these familiar designs is transformative – she takes motifs from everyday life and elevates them, revealing their complexity and highlighting the delicate intersections between different cultures and civilizations.
Though her installations physically fill rooms and create an immersive experience, Agha’s paper works offer a more introspective way to engage with her themes. On paper, her reflections on identity, post-colonialism, and authenticity take on a delicate, personal quality. Agha’s approach to using light and shadow, typically cast by her sculptural pieces, is simulated through the contrast of ink and paint on the flat surface of the paper. This choice of medium strips away the three-dimensionality of her installations, distilling her concepts down to their essence and encouraging viewers to connect with them on a more intimate level.
The use of paper in Agha’s work is significant in its own right. Paper is both delicate and enduring, much like the cultural and social questions she raises in her art. Through her use of this medium, Agha explores the tension between permanence and impermanence, solid and void, and the visible and hidden. Her intricate line work and patterns become a meditation on the “in-between” spaces that define the human experience, allowing viewers to experience the beauty of her art while contemplating the difficult questions she raises.
Follow the artist on Instagram to enjoy more of Agha’s work and explore her marvelous installations.
Ocean Blue I. Acrylic paint, beads, thread, 2023
Ocean Red II. Acrylic paint, beads, thread, 2023
Antique Lace. Mixed Media on Paper and Mylar (Cut paper, Encaustic, Embroidery and beads), 2023
From Above VIII. Mixed media on paper (paper cutouts and embroidery with blue red metallic thread), 2022.
A Hundred Waves. Embossed Print on Paper, 2019
Circle The Kaaba (Purple). Mixed Media on Black paper (Embroidery and beads), 2023
Borders I. Mylar, paper, laser-cut wood, thread, beads, 2023. Photo Credit: Casey Cronin
Intersections Black IV. Mixed Media on Paper (Cut paper, Encaustic, Embroidery and beads), 2023
This Old Shade IV. Graphite and white beads, 2021
Images © Anila Quayyum Agha